Digitization too often comes at the expense of consumer privacy. – especially when it comes to children and young people.
The Privacy Commission (Personvernkommisjonen) presented its report in autumn 2022. The Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) supports the committee's conclusions and recommendations, but also has some comments on how consumer privacy protection.
The Consumer Council is now asking the government to ensure that fundamental rights are protected
– Responsible development of technology requires authorities and companies to take privacy seriously. Unfortunately, we see again and again that this is not the case, says director Inger Lise Blyverket at the Consumer Council
Laws must be respected and enforced
– Today regulations regarding privacy policies must be respected and enforced to a greater extent. There is also a clear need for policy measures to safeguard our privacy in the face of new technologies.
In response to the consultations, the Consumer Council supports, among others, the proposal of the Commission for Privacy regarding the introduction of a national policy privacy as well as exploring the prohibition of surveillance-based marketing.
Better protection for children and young people
The Consumer Council also contributed to proposals to strengthen children's privacy on digital platforms. This proposal was presented by representatives of the Liberal Party in the Storting. The Consumer Council and the Ombudsman for Children also referred earlier to the need to strengthen the digital protection of the youngest consumers.
– The daily life of children and young people has been completely digitized. This has opened the door wide for commercial entities as well, with the challenges of this kind of marketing and monitoring, says Inger Lise Blyverket.
– We are dealing with current regulations that are too fragmented, vague and with an unclear division of responsibilities for children and young people to be provided with the protection to which they are entitled. There is also a clear need for a ban on surveillance-based marketing to protect both children and adults.
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Source: Forbrukerrådet
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